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SCORE PREVIEW—DGA PRE-BUTS GOP’S ADELSON MEETINGS IN VEGAS: A handful of 2016 GOP hopefuls is in Las Vegas this weekend for the Republican Jewish Coalition meeting, hosted by megadonor Sheldon Adelson—and the Democratic Governors Association is hitting the GOP governors included in this weekend’s confab. “On Friday, a parade of Republican governors—including Governors Chris Christie, Scott Walker, and John Kasich—will travel to Las Vegas to prostrate themselves before right-wing, casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson. It’s no wonder why they’re making the trip: in 2012 alone, Adelson spent $93 million to help elect right-wing candidates, including Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Governor Jan Brewer, and even Congressman Allen West. Even Adelson’s associates have said that the real purpose of the trip is to win the 'Sheldon Primary' for 2016,” the memo says. “While this journey will take them far away from their states, catering to the very rich is nothing new for these governors—it’s what they’ve done their entire time in office. Governors Christie, Walker and Kasich have all embraced a failed trickle-down economic philosophy that demands massive tax breaks for the wealthiest and big corporations at the expense of middle-class families.” Read the full thing: http://goo.gl/9889R2

EXCLUSIVE—AD PITCHES OSBORN AS ‘TRUE CONSERVATIVE’: In Nebraska, GOP candidates Shane Osborn and Ben Sasse are the main two candidates battling it out for the Republican nomination—and a new ad from Osborn out this morning paints him as the only “true conservative” in the race. “Four candidates for United States Senate. They all say the right things, only one has proven he can do what he says: Shane Osborn,” the ad says. “As state treasurer, Osborn cut his own budget by 11 percent. In the private sector, he helped veterans get jobs.” The ad then cuts to Osborn, who says, “It’s not what you say, it’s what you do.” There hasn’t been a whole lot of polling in this race, but what’s out there generally shows a tight race between Osborn and Sasse, with the two other candidates, Sid Dinsdale and Bart McLeay, trailing. Watch: http://goo.gl/F7pwRI

CAMPAIGN PRO, YOUR GUIDE TO THE PERMANENT CAMPAIGN launches Wednesday, April 9 on POLITICO Pro with real-time news and information on more than 60 House, Senate and gubernatorial races, including an enhanced version of Morning Score, state-of-the-race analyses, rankings and polls. Interested in subscribing to Campaign Pro? E-mail us: scr.info@politicopro.com

Good Friday morning and welcome to Morning Score. As always, send your tips, thoughts, and suggestions to eschultheis@politico.com or tweet them to @emilyrs.

CAMPAIGN PRO PREVIEW—

MISSOURI DEMS’ RECRUITING TROUBLES—POLITICO’s Juana Summers (part of the new Campaign Pro team) looks at how a state auditor general’s race in Missouri is indicative of bigger problems for Democrats in the state: “The Missouri state auditor’s post has been a launching pad for politicians with higher aspirations like Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill, former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft and former GOP Sen. Kit Bond. But this year, Democrats concede they won’t field a serious candidate against incumbent Republican Auditor Tom Schweich — sparking questions about the strength of the party’s bench in the red-trending swing state. Schweich may also be using his position to mount a bid for higher office in 2016, making Democrats’ historic failure to recruit an opponent for Schweich even more costly. [Missouri Democratic Party Chairman Roy] Temple pushed back against the idea that the Democrats lack talent that could ascend to top offices such as the U.S. Senate or the governor’s mansion, saying that there’s an 'extraordinary talent base on the Democratic side.'” http://goo.gl/UDAXgM

BRUCE RAUNER COPIES SEN. MARK KIRK'S ILLINOIS PLAYBOOK: Campaign Pro’s Reid Epstein reports: “Rauner has on his staff four Kirk alumni in his effort to replicate the moderate GOP senator’s path to blue-state victory. And like Kirk — and unlike Republicans in almost everywhere else in the country — Rauner avoids bashing President Barack Obama, who remains popular in his home state. It is all part of a recipe for victory Rauner’s team is banking on working again four years later in what is shaping up to be one of the most expensive and nastiest governor’s races in the country. … Rauner, like Kirk, hails from the tony suburbs along Lake Michigan north of Chicago. He’s said he’s in favor of abortion rights and has largely shied away from discussing gay marriage — aside from calling for the issue to be settled in a referendum rather than the bill Quinn signed in November. … Along with trying to replicate Kirk’s message, Rauner employs much of Kirk’s team. Among the Kirk alumni working for Rauner are Lance Trover, Kirk’s communications director who is now a senior campaign adviser, and Kirk’s former deputy chief of staff Mike Zolnierowicz, who is the deputy campaign manager.” http://goo.gl/jfnbQR

FRIDAY STANDINGS—Here's Morning Score's take on how some of the most important candidates, campaigns and political players should answer the question: Are you better off now than you were a week ago?

YES: (1) Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, whose Democratic opponent, Mary Burke, said Thursday that she won’t self-fund her campaign and whose lead over her grew in the latest poll of the race (http://goo.gl/GQzCeb); (2) Georgia GOP Senate candidate David Perdue, who on Thursday found himself leading the second consecutive poll of the crowded GOP primary; and (3) the remaining candidates in Pennsylvania’s Democratic gubernatorial primary, who saw one more of their number drop out this week with former state auditor Jack Wagner’s exit, so the total number of candidates left is down to four (from eight earlier this year).

NO: (1) Democratic Rep. Bruce Braley, who learned the hard way this week that insulting farmers isn’t the best way to win a race in Iowa; (2) Florida Gov. Rick Scott, whose campaign is reeling from the departure of finance co-chair Mike Hernandez and a series of emails from Hernandez that have found their way into the media; and (3) Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, whose campaign’s unfortunate mix-up between footage of Duke and the University of Kentucky earned him some bad headlines.

FIRST IN SCORE—PRYOR WEB AD HITS COTTON ON EQUAL PAY: Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor’s campaign is bringing back a narrator from one of its previous TV ads, “Courtney,” for a new web ad hitting GOP Rep. Tom Cotton on equal pay. "I’ve read some more about Tom Cotton. He not only wants to mess with Medicare and make it cost more, but Tom Cotton also voted in Congress against equal pay for women," Courtney says in the ad. "It’s right here: Cotton opposes equal pay for equal work. He believes I don’t deserve the same pay for doing the same job as a man. That’s so … yesterday." The ad will run online “in heavy rotation” as part of what the campaign calls a “significant” web buy, though they didn’t disclose a figure. The woman in this ad previously appeared in a series of ads Pryor did criticizing Cotton on Medicare and Social Security. http://goo.gl/TcrXFq

SNEAK PEEK—PCCC BACKS TWO HOUSE CANDIDATES: A day after it teamed up with Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren to back two Senate candidates, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee is endorsing two new House candidates: Democrats Bonnie Watson Coleman in New Jersey’s 12th district and Pat Murphy in Iowa’s 1st district. "As Chris Christie's top critic, [Coleman] was the first legislator to call for the scandal-ridden governor's resignation recently on MSNBC," PCCC co-founder Adam Green says in an email to supporters. "Pat Murphy was Iowa's Speaker of the House and is a prairie populist. He successfully led the fight to raise the minimum wage in Iowa, and is leading it again! He also created universal pre-K in Iowa."

NCAA AD ALERT IN KENTUCKY—Two pro-Mitch McConnell groups will air ads during what’s sure to be the most-watched program in Kentucky this weekend: the University of Kentucky vs. the University of Louisville NCAA Sweet 16 game tonight. Kentuckians for Strong Leadership, the pro-McConnell super PAC, will air an old ad tying Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes to President Obama on the Affordable Care Act (http://goo.gl/34waU4), per a source, while the 501(c)(4) group Kentucky Opportunity Coalition will run an ad praising McConnell on military and veterans’ issues (http://goo.gl/AKnTji). It’s a way to ensure these ads get in front of as many Kentucky voters as possible—and doesn’t hurt to give McConnell some good basketball-related exposure, after his web video fiasco earlier this week.

FURTHER FARM TROUBLES FOR BRALEY: There’s no denying that Iowa Democratic Senate candidate Bruce Braley is having a tough week. After video surfaced of him dismissing Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley as “a farmer from Iowa who never went to law school,” Braley’s team worked to defend his credentials on farming issues and his ties to the state’s strong farming culture. But a release from the campaign, the Des Moines Register notes, misspelled several key farming terms, like “detasseling” and “baling,” in a release touting Braley’s experience on farms in rural Iowa (http://goo.gl/2PtZ7E). He’d also posted a photo of what looks like an Iowa farm to his Facebook page—but, per BuzzFeed, it’s actually a stock photo of a farm in England (http://goo.gl/uGdPmf). The campaign responded to BuzzFeed saying they were “fixing” the photo issue. These are both small errors, and presumably not Braley’s doing himself—but it’s not a great way to prove to your state’s voters that you really do value farmers.

LIGHTER CLICK—NRCC TARGETS DEMS WITH BUZZFEED-STYLE QUIZ: The NRCC this morning will release a quiz, modeled after BuzzFeed’s myriad self-assessment quizzes (i.e., “What Super Power Should You Actually Have?”), to hit six House Democrats or Democratic candidates. On the list of options you can get when you take the quiz: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Domenic Recchia (NY-11), Sean Eldridge (NY-19), Erin Bilbray (NV-03), Nick Rahall (WV-03) and Martha Robertson (NY-23). http://goo.gl/x5UgBR

CHRISTIE SITS FOR INTERVIEW AFTER BRIDGEGATE REPORT: The Newark Star-Ledger reports on New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s latest Bridgegate news: “In his first television interview since the George Washington Bridge scandal erupted, Gov. Chris Christie continued to blame former aides for last year's controversial lane closures, saying what they did was 'inexplicably stupid.' 'When things were first reported, I said: 'This can't possibly be true.' Because who would do something like that?" the Republican governor said on ‘ABC World News.’ ... The comments come hours after the law firm Christie hired to conduct an internal investigation into the bridge scandal released a report clearing the governor of any involvement. It places the blame largely on two former allies — Port Authority official David Wildstein and Deputy Chief of Staff Bridget Anne Kelly.” http://goo.gl/GTZAiB

ACROSS THE MAP—Quick takes from races around the country:

SENATE—

-GA-Sen: A WSB-TV Channel 2 robopoll done by Landmark/Rosetta Stone has David Perdue leading the GOP Senate primary at 21 percent, followed by Rep. Jack Kingston and Rep. Paul Broun at 15 percent each. http://goo.gl/myq32C

-More GA-Sen: Sarah Palin backed former secretary of state Karen Handel in the crowded GOP primary; the former Alaska governor also backed Handel in her unsuccessful bid for Georgia governor in 2010. http://goo.gl/cQIHqy

-OK-Sen: The Senate Conservatives Fund endorsed T.W. Shannon over Rep. James Lankford in the GOP Senate primary and launched a website for him to help with fundraising. http://goo.gl/5pYQQD

-CA-17: Republican Vinesh Singh Rathore was disqualified and won’t appear on the ballot in incumbent Democratic Rep. Mike Honda’s district. However, after allegations that Democrat Ro Khanna helped recruit Rathore, a county judge found no evidence of wrongdoing on Khanna’s part. http://goo.gl/kTg3VD

-MD-Gov: The Hispanic National Law Enforcement Association endorsed Democratic Attorney General Doug Gansler in his bid for governor. http://goo.gl/Pe7ZFI

CODA—QUOTE OF THE DAY: “You and I both know that the Democrats will have a field day with you in a general.” —North Carolina GOP Senate candidate Mark Harris in a very public letter to primary opponent Thom Tillis, after Tillis emailed Harris directly to accuse him of “going negative.” http://goo.gl/iRzsia